Fictional Paper Idea

A while back I wrote a post about “design fiction” and I am wondering if this might somehow be an appropriate topic as a paper for this class. I am honestly a bit terrified by the idea of writing design fiction myself – but, a little less terrified by the notion of writing about design fiction. It is a topic that I am very interested in. In no way would I consider myself an expert on this topic. I have had only brief, intermittent moments of exposure to it. But, I think that using this kind of writing as a vehicle for the critical examination of existing interaction design has strong possibilities.

Coming from the world of graphic design I have been surrounded by people who are steeped in methods more closely associated with art than science (I am not sure that this is as true for interaction designers). I suspect that this type of people are more likely to embrace the idea of writing critically if it is in the form of “fiction.” It seems more freeform. However, if a framework (such as those we have read) of criticism could be instilled in the writers of such work then maybe their writing could serve as serious criticism.

I think that being able to write in the form of design fiction might inspire more designers to write critically about interaction or other types of design. As designers we are all storytellers. What could be better then extending this to the world of writing criticism? Provided it is done with an eye toward providing serious insight and utilizing the frameworks we have discussed in this class — I believe it could bring an influx of new and much needed critical writing about works of design.

While I strongly believe that there is a paper here, I am less sure that it fits the constraints of this assignment. One day I would also like to try my hand at writing design fiction myself. But, this seems even less likely to fit the assignment. Perhaps this paper could have one part where I attempt to write design fiction. This could be done as a middle part that is bookended by an opening that … and … conclusion that …

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2 comments

Although I am not very familiar with design fiction (your post was my introduction to it), I think this is definitely a very promising area.

One thing that *might* help frame your idea of writing design fiction within the HCI domain is to look at methods that talk about similar concepts. Narrative Inquiry and Storytelling as a Methodology seem to have a few similar parallels to your work, even if they don’t mesh together 100%.

Katie’s comment offers me an idea for your paper. Why not write about some current existing design/research methods that are related with storytelling or narrative inquiry? Why not critique on these methods and then promote a new method, as you discuss in the post, a method of design fiction? Then you can discuss about this method and compare it with some other methods. It sounds like filling the C into A, B, and D, but now it’s all about method.